2018 Colorado Secretary of State election

2018 Colorado Secretary of State election

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Registered	3,953,613
Turnout	64.92%
Candidate Jena Griswold Wayne Williams Party Democratic Republican Popular vote 1,313,716 1,113,927 Percentage 52.70% 44.69%
County results Griswold:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80% Williams:     40–50%     50–60%     60–70%     70–80%     80–90%
Secretary of State before election Wayne Williams Republican Elected Secretary of State Jena Griswold Democratic

The 2018 Colorado Secretary of State election was held on November 6, 2018, to elect the Secretary of State of Colorado, concurrently with elections to the United States House of Representatives, governor, and other state and local elections. Primary elections were held on June 26, 2018. ^[1] A debate was held by KOAA-TV on October 13, 2018. ^[2]

Incumbent Republican secretary Wayne Williams ran for re-election to a second term in office, but was defeated by Democratic attorney Jena Griswold. ^{[3] [4]} Griswold outraised Williams throughout the campaign. ^[3] Williams' compliance with a voter fraud commission by the first Trump administration was a key issue throughout the campaign, along with election security. ^{[5] [6] [7] [8]} Griswold became the first Democrat to be elected as the Colorado Secretary of State since George Baker in 1958. ^[9]

Republican primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Wayne Williams, incumbent secretary of state (2015-present) and former El Paso County Recorder (2011-2015) ^[10]

Results

Republican primary results ^[11]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Wayne Williams (incumbent)	414,926	100.0%
Total votes			414,926	100.0%

Democratic primary

Candidates

Nominee

• Jena Griswold, attorney and former election attorney for Barack Obama's presidential campaign ^[10]

Withdrew before primary

• Phillip Villard, activist ^[12]

Endorsements

Jena Griswold

Executive branch officials

• Ken Salazar, former United States Secretary of the Interior (2009-2013), U.S. Senator from Colorado (2005-2009), and Colorado Attorney General (1999-2005) ^[12]

U.S. representatives

• Ed Perlmutter, U.S. representative from Colorado's 7th congressional district (2007-present) ^[12]
• Jared Polis, U.S. representative from Colorado's 2nd congressional district (2009-present) ^[13]

State officials

• Jason Kander, former Missouri Secretary of State (2013-2017) and state representative from the 44th district (2009-2013) ^[14]
• Cary Kennedy, former Colorado State Treasurer (2007-2011) ^[13]

State senators

• Steve Fenberg, state senator from the 18th district (2017-present) ^[12]
• Joyce Foster, state senator from the 35th district (2009-2013) ^[12]
• Lucía Guzmán, minority leader of the Colorado Senate (2015-present) and state senator from the 34th district (2010-present) ^[12]
• Mike Johnston, state senator from the 33rd district (2009-2017) ^[13]
• Lois Tochtrop, state senator from the 24th district (2007-2015) ^[12]

State representatives

• KC Becker, majority leader of the Colorado House of Representatives (2017-present) and state representative from the 13th district (2013-present) ^[12]
• Janet Buckner, state representative from the 40th district (2015-present) ^[12]
• Jessie Danielson, speaker pro tempore of the Colorado House of Representatives (2017-present) and state representative from the 24th district (2015-present) ^[12]
• Chris Hansen, state representative from the 6th district (2017-present) ^[12]
• Claire Levy, state representative from the 13th district (2007-2013) ^[12]
• Dafna Michaelson Jenet, state representative from the 30th district (2017-present) ^[12]
• Dylan Roberts, state representative from the 26th district (2017-present) ^[12]

District attorneys

• Jeff Chostner, district attorney for Colorado's 10th judicial district ^[12]
• Stan Garnett, district attorney for Colorado's 20th judicial district ^[12]

Local officials

• Aaron Brockett, Boulder City Councilor ^[12]
• Eva Henry, Adams County Commissioner ^[12]
• Joe Pelle, Sheriff of Boulder County ^[12]
• Robin Kneich, Denver City Councilor ^[12]
• Ashley Stolzmann, Louisville City Councilor ^[12]
• Steve O'Dorisio, Adams County Commissioner ^[12]
• Wellington Webb, former mayor of Denver (1991-2003) ^[12]

Individuals

• Auon'tai Anderson, community organizer and candidate for the Denver Public Schools Board ^[12]
• Dottie Lamm, First Lady of Colorado (1975-1987) and nominee for U.S. Senate in 1998 ^[12]

Unions

• Denver Pipefitters Local 208 ^[12]
• Plumbers Local Union 3 ^[12]

Organizations

• EMILY's List ^[12]
• Let America Vote ^[14]

Results

Democratic primary results ^[15]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jena Griswold	510,903	100.0%
Total votes			510,903	100.0%

General election

Post-primary endorsements

Wayne Williams (R)

State representatives

• Joe Rice, state representative from the 38th district (2007-2011) (Democratic) ^[16]

Local officials

• Kim Bonner, clerk and recorder of Routt County (Democratic) ^[16]
• Nancy Cruz, clerk and recorder of Huerfano County (Democratic) ^[16]
• Patti Nickell, clerk and recorder of Bent County (Democratic) ^[16]
• Sharon Sisnroy, clerk and recorder of Otero County (Democratic) ^[16]
• Peach Vigil, clerk and recorder of Las Animas County (Democratic) ^[16]

Newspapers and other media

• Colorado Springs Independent ^[17]
• Greeley Tribune ^[18]
• The Aspen Times ^[19]
• The Aurora Sentinel ^[20]
• The Coloradoan ^[21]
• The Denver Post ^[22]
• The Durango Herald ^[17]
• The Gazette (Colorado Springs) ^[17]
• The Daily Sentinel (Grand Junction) ^[23]
• The Mountain Mail ^[24]
• The Pueblo Chieftain ^[17]
• Yellow Scene ^[25]

Jena Griswold (D)

U.S. presidents

• Barack Obama, President of the United States (2009-2017) and U.S. Senator from Illinois (2005-2008) ^[26]

Executive branch officials

• Joe Biden, Vice President of the United States (2009-2017) and U.S. Senator from Delaware (1973-2009) ^{[27] [28]}

Local officials

• Nathan Ruybal, clerk and recorder of Conejos County ^[16]
• Kathryn Simillion, clerk and recorder of Gunnison County ^[16]
• Gilbert Ortiz, clerk and recorder of Pueblo County ^[16]

Newspapers and other media

• Estes Park Trail-Gazette ^[29]
• Boulder Weekly ^[26]

Organizations

• Planned Parenthood Action Fund ^[30]

Predictions

Source	Ranking	As of
Governing [31]	Lean R	October 11, 2018

Results

2018 Colorado Secretary of State election ^[32]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Jena Griswold	1,313,716	52.70%
	Republican	Wayne Williams (incumbent)	1,113,927	44.69%
	Constitution	Amanda Campbell	51,734	2.08%
	Approval Voting	Blake Huber	13,258	0.53%
Total votes			2,492,635	100.00%
	Democratic gain from Republican

References

1. Birkeland, Bente (June 28, 2018). "High Turnout For Colorado Primary". KRCC 91.5 FM. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
2. "Election Watch: Colorado Secretary of State". KOAA 5. October 20, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
3. Rodriguez, Jacob (November 6, 2018). "Democrat Jena Griswold unseats Wayne Williams in the election for Colorado's secretary of state". KUSA 9. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
4. Nelson, Sasha (November 8, 2018). "'Red wall' in Moffat County not enough to stop 'blue wave' crashing across Colorado state offices". Craig Daily Press. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
5. "Democrat Jena Griswold Wins Secretary Of State". CBS News. Associated Press. November 7, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
6. "Democrat Jena Griswold wins Colorado secretary of state race". Denver7. Associated Press. November 7, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
7. Larsen, Eric (November 6, 2018). "Colorado election: Newcomer Jena Griswold sweeps Wayne Williams from secretary of state seat" . The Coloradoan. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
8. Fish, Sandra (October 22, 2018). "Colorado has been called the safest place to vote under Republican Wayne Williams' watch. But Democrat Jena Griswold says things could be better". The Colorado Sun. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
9. Hernandez, Esteban (July 18, 2018). "Colorado's secretary of state candidates will be talking about cybersecurity a lot this fall". Denverite. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
10. "Secretary of State: Jena Griswold Defeats Wayne Williams". Colorado Public Radio. November 7, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
11. "2018 Primary Election Results - Republican Party Ballot". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
12. Luning, Ernest (January 8, 2018). "Democratic secretary of state candidate Jena Griswold lands backing from unions, elected officials". Colorado Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
13. Luning, Ernest (February 22, 2018). "Four Democratic gubernatorial candidates endorse Jena Griswold for Colorado secretary of state". Colorado Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
14. Luning, Ernest (March 9, 2018). "Democratic secretary of state candidate Jena Griswold wins endorsement from Let America Vote organization". Colorado Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
15. "2018 Primary Election Results - Democratic Party Ballot". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
16. Luning, Ernest (October 13, 2018). "Wayne Williams wins endorsements from Democratic clerks, other officials". Colorado Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
17. Bunch, Joey (October 31, 2018). "Williams dominates newspaper endorsements for secretary of state". Colorado Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
18. "Tribune Endorsement: Wayne Williams deserves another term as Colorado's secretary of state". Greeley Tribune. October 27, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
19. "Aspen Times Editorial: Breaking down the Colorado races". The Aspen Times. October 31, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
20. "ENDORSEMENT: Williams deserves your vote of confidence as Colorado secretary of state". The Aurora Sentinel. October 9, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
21. Duggan, Kevin (October 28, 2018). "Coloradoan editorial board endorsement: Williams has earned trust as secretary of state". The Coloradoan. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
22. "Endorsements: Brauchler for AG, Williams for secretary of state and Young for treasurer". The Denver Post. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
23. "Re-elect Williams as secretary of state". The Daily Sentinel. October 19, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
24. "Endorsements". The Mountain Mail. October 23, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
25. "Election Guide 2018: Secretary of State". Yellow Scene. October 18, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
26. Luning, Ernest (November 21, 2018). "ENDORSEMENT WATCH | How well did Trump, Obama do on Colorado candidates?" . The Denver Gazette. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
27. Luning, Ernest (June 19, 2018). "Joe Biden throws weight behind secretary of state hopeful Jena Griswold". Colorado Politics. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
28. "Joe Biden throws weight behind secretary of state hopeful Jena Griswold". KUSA 5. June 19, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
29. "Editorial board endorsements". Estes Park Trail-Gazette. October 11, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
30. "#KeepCOPink: Planned Parenthood Votes Colorado Announces 2018 Midterm Elections Endorsements". Planned Parenthood Action. August 6, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2025.
31. Jacobson, Louis (October 11, 2018). "Democrats Maintain the Edge in Secretary of State Races" . Retrieved October 20, 2025.
32. "2018 General Election Results". Colorado Secretary of State. Retrieved October 17, 2025.